"I care not where they jump," said Hodge; "but they shall
not go over it."

"But they shall," said Peter.

"Have a care," said Hodge; "for if you say too
much, I will put my fingers in your mouth."

"Will you?" said Peter.

Just then another man of Gotham came from the market with
a sack of meal on his horse. He heard his
neigh-borsquar-rel-ing about sheep; but he could see no sheep between
them, and so he stopped and spoke to them.

"Ah, you foolish fellows!" he cried. "It is strange that
you will never learn wisdom.—Come here, Peter, and help me
lay my sack on my shoul-der. "

Peter did so, and the man carried his meal to the side of
the bridge.

"Now look at me," he said, "and learn a lesson." And he
opened the mouth of the sack, and poured all the meal into
the river.

"Now, neighbors," he said, "can you tell how much meal is
in my sack?"

"How much meal is in my sack?"

"There is none at all!" cried Hodge and Peter together.

"You are right," said the man; "and you that stand here and
quarrel about nothing, have no more sense in your heads than
I have meal in my sack!"